April 15, 2015

Mexican authorities claim they have located an ISIS camp just eight miles south of the U.S. border. From this base camp, terrorists ares aid to be planning attacks on U.S. soil, specifically targeting Fort Bliss.

ISIS is operating a camp just a few miles from El Paso, Texas, according to Judicial Watch sources that include a Mexican Army field grade officer and a Mexican Federal Police Inspector.

The exact location where the terrorist group has established its base is around eight miles from the U.S. border in an area known as "Anapra" situated just west of Ciudad Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Another ISIS cell to the west of Ciudad Juárez, in Puerto Palomas, targets the New Mexico towns of Columbus and Deming for easy access to the United States, the same knowledgeable sources confirm.

During the course of a joint operation last week, Mexican Army and federal law enforcement officials discovered documents in Arabic and Urdu, as well as "plans" of Fort Bliss - the sprawling military installation that houses the US Army's 1st Armored Division. Muslim prayer rugs were recovered with the documents during the operation.

September 10, 2014

He should have said he was an illegal immigrant. Then the U.S. would have paid him far more than $5,000 in services and benefits...

U.S. Border Patrol agents slapped a $5,000 fine on an American citizen this week for slipping into the United States from Canada on a mountain bike, the agency announced Wednesday.

The 40-year-old American and his 44-year-old Canadian companion were nabbed Sunday near Houlton, Maine, after allegedly biking across the border south of Notre Dame, Canada, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

A Border Patrol agent spotted the two men at about 2:30 p.m. with mountain bikes on a dirt road near the border. After questioning the suspects, the agent arrested them for illegally crossing the border.

Each was fined $5,000, said CBP.

If the same penalty was applied to American's estimated 11 million illegal immigrations, the federal government could collect $55 billion. (Source)

August 30, 2014

A Border Patrol agent pursuing a group of immigrants in a wooded area near the Texas-Mexico border on Friday fired several shots at an armed man who later identified himself as a militia member.

Border Patrol spokesman Omar Zamora said agents had been chasing a group of immigrants east of Brownsville Friday afternoon when an agent saw a man holding a gun near the Rio Grande. The agent fired four shots, but did not hit the man. The man then dropped his gun and identified himself as a member of a militia. Zamora said no other details were immediately available.

Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio, whose agency is involved in the investigation, said the incident occurred on private property and it appeared the man had permission to be there. He was not arrested, Lucio said.

August 05, 2014

RAYMONDVILLE, Texas -- Two illegal immigrants from Mexico who were charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of an off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent in front of his family in Texas have been arrested and deported numerous times, police sources told FoxNews.com.

One suspect has been arrested no fewer than four times for entering the U.S. illegally, according to federal court records. The other has been deported twice after entering the U.S. illegally, sources said.

Gustavo Tijerina, 30, and Ismael Hernandez, 40, were arraigned Tuesday afternoon inside the Willacy County jail library. They were ordered held without bail after being charged with capital murder of a peace officer, attempted murder, and a variety of lesser charges. More

August 01, 2014

Guess which one came to America legally and which came to America illegally.

Those who come to our country with respect for our laws have a vested interest in bettering our society. Those who ignore our laws will continue to do so until held accountable. That is why legal immigrants should be welcomed and "undocumented" immigrants need to be deported immediately.

One of those individuals is Waghmare Vishal, a computer programmer from India. Vishal is a senior engineer for Maxxton USA, a software company based in Dallas.

Vishal, who lives in India, applied for a visa so he could help Maxxton expand their business interests in the United States. But the State Department turned down Vishal's visa.

"The consulate thought that he was a risk because he might not go back to his home country," said Chris Connar, Maxxton's vice president for sales and marketing. "It's frustrating – very frustrating. This is a government-sanctioned problem." [...]

And that brings me to the story of a newlywed couple from Denver...

The husband is an American. His wife is British. She applied for a spouse visa in April 2013. As of this writing, they are still waiting for an approval...

The State Department demanded that the bride prove she would not be a financial burden to the country...

The bride has an English degree. Her husband is the co-owner of a store in the Denver area. She said they were required to prove that they made enough money to live above the poverty threshold.

The youths were among 20 from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala who were set to appear in federal immigration court Tuesday for initial deportation hearings. But they weren't there -- 18 of the children whose cases were set to be heard didn't show up Tuesday for court.

It was an absentee rate that federal Immigration Judge Michael Baird said was "highly unusual," so high that he reset the hearings for Aug. 11 rather than possibly issuing a deportation order.

Baird said he was concerned that the children may not have received proper notice of the hearings from the government.

These aren't little "children" as the media keeps suggesting. These are teenagers, many of whom belong to gangs.

Next time, instead of calling it a "deportation hearing," just tell the immigrants to pick up their green cards at the courthouse. Then arrest them when they show.

July 01, 2014

The Department of Health and Human Services security forces are proudly calling themselves "Brown Shirts." That alone is terrifying in America.

But even worse, these "Brown Shirts" are threatening to arrest any medical professional who warns the public about the diseases illegal children are carrying. Further, the Obama Administration is having these diseased children transported around the country using public transportation, potentially spreading the illnesses.:

A government-contracted security force threatened to arrest doctors and nurses if they divulged any information about the contagion threat at a refugee camp housing illegal alien children at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, sources say. [...]

A former nurse at the camp told me she was horrified by what she saw.

"We have so many kids coming in that there was no way to control all of the sickness - all this stuff coming into the country," she said. "We were very concerned at one point about strep going around the base."

Both the counselor and the nurse said their superiors tried to cover up the extent of the illnesses. [...]

The nurse told me she became especially alarmed because their files indicated the children had been transported to Lackland on domestic charter buses and airplanes.

May 05, 2014

A California school with a large Hispanic population is constructing a fence to keep American protesters out of view. The protesters were not threatening to trespass. The fence is to prevent the Hispanic students from seeing such offensive displays as the U.S. flag being proudly flown:

A California school constructed a temporary fence to obstruct the view of protestors demonstrating against the school’s ban on American flag shirts for Cinco de Mayo.

CNN reminds everyone how not to celebrate cinco de Mayo in America. For instance, don't try and celebrate it in Mexico. It isn't a holiday there. Strangely, they left out flying an American flag as something you shouldn't do.

March 10, 2014

I was recently visiting another college campus when I noticed a whole bunch of foreign students. I brought this up to the person showing me around and they mentioned that they have a big ESL (English as a Second Language) program on campus that they're quite proud of. It's a little known aspect of many schools, but administrators look to foreign students (especially the Chinese, these days) as cash cows. They pay out of state tuition and on top of that do it in cash. They especially love it when these students pass the TOEFL test and then matriculate into graduate programs, which on top of out of the already higher out of state tuition also charge more for tuition generally.

The point? So, we're talking about this when my guide mentions that right after 9/11 they lost a lot of students but they're back up to full numbers now.

The students were from the wealthy Gulf States. UAE, Oman ... Saudi Arabia.

The federal government has lost track of tens of thousands of foreign students who came to the U.S. to study and then took jobs, often in violation of the terms of their visas, according to a new internal audit.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement doesn’t even consistently collect information or have the tools to monitor all of the foreign students who take part in the optional practical training (OPT) program, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report released late Friday.

That's tens of thousands of students they can't account for, not thousands. And we're supposed to trust these people with immigration reform.

January 08, 2014

Reported cases of Christians killed for their faith around the world doubled in 2013 from the year before, with Syria accounting for more than the whole global total in 2012, according to an annual survey.

Open Doors, a non-denominational group supporting persecuted Christians worldwide, said on Wednesday it had documented 2,123 “martyr” killings, compared with 1,201 in 2012. There were 1,213 such deaths in Syria alone last year, it said.

But still, if even half of it is true it's something to think about. For instance, the figure that there are hundreds of thousands of possible Hezbollah sympathizers in Mexico, most of them there as illegal aliens:

Since 2005, Iran and Hezbollah have developed a presence in Latin America, opening 17 cultural centers, and forming relations with the Mexican drug cartels. 200,000 immigrants from Lebanon and Syria, many of whom are illegal residents, live in Mexico, and have established residence with the help of drug cartels like Los Zetas, the most technically advanced of Mexico’s drug cartels. Those who are sympathetic to Islamic extremist movements make perfect recruits for the drug trade because they understand how illegal activity in the Americas empowers whoever wishes to weaken the power of U.S. sovereignty. As shown by the increase of Islamic missionaries in Mexico, as well as the growing influence of Hezbollah and Iran, it is clear that Islamists are trying to win the hearts and minds of the Mexican people. However, beneath these seemingly peaceful developments lie the fact that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard and Quds forces are partnering with major Mexican drug cartels. They are learning Mexican culture, as well as Spanish, and are starting to blend in with native-born Mexicans.

I think we might need to spend some serious reflection on this before we give blanket amnesty to 11 million people, most of whom come from Mexico.

April 05, 2013

Stacey McCain notes that the age of consent in Mexico is ..... 12! Can that be true? It just seems so hard to believe.

I grew up in LA with a lot of friends who had Mexican backgrounds and I was always under the impression that the quinceanera -- the 15th birthday celebration, a sort of "coming out" party -- marked the symbolic passage to womanhood.

But ... 12? Say it aint so. We're not talking about Mogadishu here.

But the story here is that the 25 year old illegal immigrant got pissed at the mom for c*ck blocking him from her 13 year old daughter. The death sentence is too easy a punishment for a guy like this.

March 11, 2013

What used to be a bastion of freedom and guardian of the oppressed is now little more than a smoldering cesspool ready to implode.

A teenage girl was raped 90 times in one weekend it has been revealed, in a shocking report into modern-day slavery in the UK.

The report, due to be published tomorrow by the Centre for Social Justice, contains evidence from the girl, who was 16 at the time she was taken into slavery and raped by 90 men.

The girl, who gave evidence to the committee despite still being 'deeply traumatised' by the attacks, did not come from a background which put her at risk, but became enslaved after befriending girls vulnerable to abuse, it has been reported.

Andrew Wallis, chairman of the working group that produced the report, would only tell the committee the girl 'is now safe' when asked what had happened to her since the attacks, according to the Sunday Times.

The report claims efforts to tackle modern slavery in the UK, including the sexual exploitation of children, are in a state of crisis.

The CSJ, an independent think-tank set up by Iain Duncan Smith, has attacked the Government for its 'inadequate response' to the issue after the investigation uncovered a 'shocking underworld' of human trafficking.

Its study found more than 1,000 adults and children were trafficked into or within the UK in 2011/2012, but the figure could be 'only the tip of the iceberg'.

Among the cases were British and foreign victims who had been forced into the sex trade, a life of crime or domestic labour.

British girls trafficked within Britain for the sex trade made up nearly one half of all UK slavery victims in the latest set of figures.

The UK response is to pass new anti-slavery legislation because, obviously, the old anti-slavery laws aren't enough. It would be politically incorrect to just target that actual causes, as that might lead to authorities being labelled "racist," "culturally biased," or "anti-immigrant."

January 29, 2013

Democratic strategist and MSNBC political analyst Karen Finney said Tuesday that the “hateful language” of the “crazy crackers on the right” will pose a huge thorn in the side of Republicans when it comes to courting Latino voters

Two U.S. Border Patrol agents were shot, one fatally, Tuesday morning in an area south Arizona known as a major drug-smuggling corridor, authorities said.

The identities of the agents were not immediately released, but the shooting occurred at the Brian Terry Station near Naco, Ariz., which is just south of Tucson. The station was named after an agent who was killed in the line of duty in December 2010.[More]

The agents were shot while patrolling on horseback in Naco, Ariz., at about 1:50 a.m. MST Tuesday, the Border Patrol said in a statement.

The agents who were shot were on patrol with a third agent, who was not harmed, according to George McCubbin, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing about 17,000 border patrol agents.

The last Border Patrol agent fatally shot on duty was Brian Terry, who was killed in a shootout near the border in December 2010. The shooting was later linked to the U.S. government’s Fast and Furious gun smuggling operation.

McCubbin said he had no further information regarding the shooting[More...]

[Tucson Sentinel]A U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed and another wounded in a shooting Tuesday morning near Naco, the agency said. Border agents are searching the hills between Bisbee and Douglas for the gunman.

Nicholas Ivie, 30, was killed around 1:50 a.m. after he and two other agents responded to a sensor hit near mile marker 352 on State Route 80, the Border Patrol confirmed about 12:30 p.m.

At an afternoon news conference, FBI Special Agent in Charge James Turgal refused to release specifics on the case; he declined to comment on reports that two suspects in the shooting have been detained in Mexico.

I'm not going to talk about any issues regarding suspects at this time," Turgal told reporters at 2 p.m.

The wounded BP agent, who has not yet been identified, was airlifted to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. He underwent surgery and was in stable condition Tuesday morning. The agent was expected to be released from University of Arizona Medical Center on Tuesday afternoon, said George McCubbin, president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing border agents.

The slain agent was identified as Nicholas J. Ivie, a native of Provo, Utah. Ivie joined the Border Patrol in January 2008. Ivie is survived by a wife and two children, agents said.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and children. May those responsible for his murder be found and brought to justice.

September 30, 2012

In July and August I worked on a post for Big Government about the human aspect of Operation Fast & Furious, the government gun walking operation that put guns into the hands of already dangerous Mexican drug cartels. The Old Media largely ignores Fast & Furious, but when they do pay attention, they scarcely mention the victims. Not until I put an enormous amount of pressure on The New York Times did they start saying "Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry" instead of just "a border patrol agent."

Tomorrow Today[ed], September 30, Univision will be airing “Aqui y Ahora” (Here and Now) about Fast & Furious. It will document the people who lost their lives because of this program. Univision’s investigative unit found many more deaths linked to Fast & Furious and will talk about them during the special, including the killing of 16 young people at a party.

I remember watching Obama, when attending a town hall with Univision, he was asked why he didn't fire Eric Holder. Obama went into a speel and lied by saying GW started the program.

“Well, first of all, I think it’s important for us to understand that the Fast and Furious program was a field-initiated program begun under the previous administration,” said President Obama.

Fast and Furious started in November 2009. Someone needs to remind President Obama he was president at that time, not President Bush. He also claimed Mr. Holder has held people accountable for their actions. However, no one has been held accountable. People have been allowed to resign quietly or reassigned to another position. No one has been fired. No one has been charged with any crime.

We are in a sad state of affairs when it takes Univision to investigate the Fast and Furious scandal.

August 23, 2012

Ten federal immigration agents have filed suit against Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano claiming recent directives are forcing them to break the law and ignore their duties when it comes to deporting illegal immigrants.

The suit was filed Thursday in Texas federal court by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. It challenges recent directives allowing some illegal immigrants -- particularly non-felons and those who came to the U.S. as children -- to stay and, in some cases, get work permits.

The suit, obtained by Fox News, says the agents are being forced to "violate federal law." It says the new directive "unconstitutionally usurps and encroaches upon the legislative powers of Congress." ICE Director John Morton is also named as a defendant.

Kris Kobach, lead attorney on the case, equated the move to give thousands of illegal immigrants a reprieve to the failed Fast and Furious gun-walking operation. [More...]

I hope the outcome of this has a happy ending as this administration is definitely not going to be pleased.

August 20, 2012

They say that there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. That isn't true. It's a myth that statistics can be made to "say anything you want them to". In fact, the reason we use statistics is to obtain less biased results then with non-empirical studies.

This doesn't mean that statistical analysis are perfect, just that they are usually less flawed than most of the alternatives.

But that is based on several assumptions about the statistics. The most important being that they are accurately reported.

But how accurate are the statistics that the local law enforcement agencies send their states and ultimately to the federal government? PJM/PJTV has obtained exclusive hidden camera video from inside the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office. In this video, a crime analyst – the person responsible for entering official data into the Uniform Crime Reporting system from the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office – admits that the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office manipulates its crime statistics systematically.

This is important for two reasons. First, it's fraud and the Sheriff in question is an elected Democrat. Second, it skews the crime data -- data used by President Obama to claim that we don't need tougher border enforcement because, Look, crime is down along the border!

UPDATE: Some in comments are questioning the facts presented so far in this case. There may very well be more involved here. I'll keep an eye for new information, both in the news and in comments.

Obama's DREAM Act only applies to illegal immigrants - those who have violated and disrespected our laws. Immigrants who have come to America the correct way, those who have respected and obeyed our laws, do not have protection.

One example, Laura Gray. Her family came to America legally. Her parents and grandparents did everything they were supposed to do under our laws. But when Laura turned 21 today, her visa ran out.

Laura's family have started a petition (emphasis their's):

On August 8th, when she turns twenty-one Lauren will no longer be allowed to be a dependent on her parents visa's. She will be forced to leave the place that she calls home, and deported to a country that is very "foreign" to her. Her family, friends and everything she knows and loves are all here in the United States. In many eyes, Lauren is already an upstanding citizen.

Obama recently announced the DREAM Act which will allow illegal immigrants under 35, who came to the United States as minors, a temporary work visa. If they serve two years in the military or complete two years of higher education they are also granted six years of temporary residency. Lauren meets every qualification for Obama's DREAM Act, except she has done one thing wrong. She did everything right. Since Lauren is here as a legal immigrant, and her parents have patiently worked with the United States government since 2003 to legalize all members of their family, the DREAM ACT will not honor her.

Wrong nationality, wrong language, wrong mentality about the United States. Laura, you should have learn Spanish, come to America illegally through Mexico, and then paraded your hatred for this country for all to see while demanding free handouts from the American tax-payer.

July 03, 2012

NEAR HARGILL — A federal agent is expected to survive after being shot early Tuesday morning in eastern Hidalgo County.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations agent was working along State Highway 186 near Farm-to-Market Road 493, just west of the Hidalgo-Willacy county line, when he was shot in the abdomen about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño, whose agency is assisting the FBI-led investigation into the shooting, said the agent sustained two gunshot wounds. He said his office was providing crime scene investigators and other manpower to assist in the probe.

Details surrounding the gunfire remained unclear late Tuesday morning.[More....]

May 25, 2012

In the latest round of the hottest U.S. Senate primary in the nation, establishment candidate (and zillionaire) David Dewhurst is spending his millions attacking conservative challenger Ted Cruz with a claim that Cruz supports "amnesty."

Below the fold, a word from Maria Martinez, a well-known immigration activist in Texas who has tangled with Dewhurst many times:

Friends,

I can't tell all of you how important this Senate race is to Texas. I'm sure that you remember how hard we worked during the last 2 legislative sessions in Austin to get a single bill passed to stop or even slow down the effects of illegal immigration. IRCOT met with Dewhurst's staff in 2009 urging him to get behind an E-verify bill but were politely shown the door. In 2011, we brought him the Texas Tea Party Coalition Letter on Illegal Immigration signed by nearly 3,000 Tea Party activists and never heard a word from Dewhurst. Dewhurst had every opportunity to do something to pass an anti-sanctuary city bill and DID NOTHING. When he could have used the rule to suspend the "blocker bill" and yet chose not to! This was even the most watered down bill that could have been written, and still he allowed it to be killed.

Many of you may have supported another candidate but we so need to defeat Dewhurst and keep him out of Washington where he will again do nothing. I think it's important to get the truth out that the very person who has accused Cruz of amnesty is the very one who was part of the "team" that killed all legislation to address illegal immigration in Texas for at least the last 3 legislative sessions. He must be defeated and I urge all of you to get the word out to your contact lists that Dewhurst is the real enemy on illegal immigration. He must be forced to a run-off.

Regards,
Maria Martinez
Please note this is a personal note and does not necessarily reflect the views of IRCOT or its Board Members.
(For identification purposes only)
Executive Director
Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas (IRCOT)

December 16, 2011

(Miami, Florida) U.S. Homeland Security Investigations division in Miami has busted an illegal alien cheerleader smuggling operation launched from Colombia. Sixteen people traveled with phony documents from Bogota, Colombia to Miami under the guise of participating in a cheerleading competition.

In total, seven smugglers were prosecuted for immigration fraud and nine cheerleaders, including seven minors, were deported back to Colombia. The last smuggler, Duastin Salazar, 28, pleaded guilty this week and was sentenced to time served and a $100 fine.

Texas Tea Party leaders are unhappy with Gov. Rick Perry’s immigration-related positions and want him to call another special legislative session to give state lawmakers a third opportunity to ban sanctuary cities.

“This is an issue that is simmering and bubbling up to the surface … We are tired of lip service. We are fed up. We are fed up, too, Gov. Perry,” Texas Tea Party Caucus Advisory Committee chair JoAnn Fleming of Tyler said Monday.

The Tea Party representatives presented Perry's office with more than 3,000 signatures.

"Although we do not necessarily hold you completely responsible for the inexcusable actions of the House and Senate members during the regular and special sessions, the ball is now squarely in your court," the Tea Party letter says. "It is solely within your power as Governor to call the legislature into session and demand they complete the important work that they promised their constituents they would do."

The letter cited a recent University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll showing that Texas voters consider illegal immigration the most important problem facing the state. Inadequate border security ranked second.

September 13, 2011

Yet another reason why border security cannot be overlooked. The three Pakistani nationals were living in Ecuador where they conspired to smuggle members of the Paksitani Taliban into the US.

Use your imagination as to what they thought the Taliban members were going to do once they got here. I don't think opening a Quick-E-Mart was foremost in their imaginations.

The good news is that the man they thought was in the Taliban, really worked for the FBI.

Imagine that? Burn! Winning.

FBI press release:

WASHINGTON—Three Pakistani citizens pleaded guilty today in the District of Columbia to conspiracy to provide material support to the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), often referred to as the Pakistani Taliban, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

The guilty pleas were announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security Lisa Monaco; Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. for the District of Columbia; John Morton, Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); and John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Miami Division.

At a hearing today before U.S. District Judge John D. Bates in Washington, D.C., Irfan Ul Haq, 37; Qasim Ali, 32; and Zahid Yousaf, 43, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. At sentencing, which is scheduled for Dec. 9, 2011, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. As part of their plea agreements, the defendants have agreed to a stipulated order of removal to Pakistan upon the completion of their criminal sentences.

“Today’s case underscores the threat posed by human smuggling networks that facilitate terrorist travel,” said Assistant Attorney General Monaco. “I thank the many agents, analysts and prosecutors who were responsible for this successful investigation.”

“These defendants sought to smuggle someone they believed to be a member of a terrorist organization from halfway around the world into the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. “For financial profit, they were willing to jeopardize the safety and security of the American people. Human smuggling operations pose a serious risk to our national security, and we will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners at home and abroad to combat this dangerous threat.”

“These criminals were willing to use their human smuggling network to help a terrorist slip across our border without any regard for the consequences,” said U.S. Attorney Machen. “Ten years after 9/11, this case reminds us that we must remain aggressive to stop terrorists from infiltrating our homeland and harming our nation.”

“ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents will continue to use every available resource to protect the American public from terrorist organizations and individuals who support them,” said ICE Director Morton. “Today’s announcement demonstrates our international resolve to ensuring that our nation is safer and more secure. I applaud the outstanding work conducted by our HSI attaché office in Ecuador who led this extensive investigation. I would also like to commend our HSI office in Atlanta, along with our law enforcement partners in the United States and Ecuador, who assisted us in this case.”

“These criminals said they didn’t care if the men they smuggled ‘swept floors or blow up’ something. As long as they got paid, they did not care if innocent people would be killed in a potential terrorist attack,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Gillies. “The FBI’s number one priority is counterterrorism and we will continue to work with our partners to protect the U.S. and its people from harm.”

Ul Haq, Ali, and Yousaf were arrested in Miami on March 13, 2011, on an indictment filed in the District of Columbia charging them with one count of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling. Based on the defendants’ guilty pleas to terrorism conspiracy charges, the government will dismiss at the sentencing hearing the charges of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling against the defendants.

Ul Haq, Ali, and Yousaf admitted that between Jan. 3, 2011, and March 10, 2011, they conspired to provide material support to the TTP in the form of false documentation and identification, knowing that the TTP engages in terrorist activity and terrorism. According to court documents, Ul Haq, Ali and Yousaf conducted a human smuggling operation in Quito, Ecuador, that attempted to smuggle an individual they believed to be a member of the TTP from Pakistan into the United States. The TTP was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department on Sept. 1, 2010.

Court documents indicate that law enforcement agents directed confidential sources to ask the defendants, who were residing in Ecuador at the time, for their assistance in smuggling a fictitious person from Pakistan to the United States. Over the course of the ensuing negotiations, the defendants were made aware that the person to be smuggled was a member of the TTP who was blacklisted in Pakistan.

According to the court documents, the defendants agreed to move this person from Pakistan into the United States, despite his purported affiliation with the TTP. Ul Haq, according to the court documents, told the confidential sources that it was “not their concern” what the men “want to do in the United States—hard labor, sweep floor, wash dishes in a hotel, or blow up. That will be up to them.” The defendants accepted payment from the confidential sources for the smuggling operation and procured a false Pakistani passport for the purported TTP member.

The investigation was conducted by the HSI attaché office in Quito, Ecuador, with the HSI office in Atlanta, the Miami Division of the FBI and the Ecuadorian National Police.

The investigation was conducted under the Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force (ECT) program, a joint partnership between the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and HSI. The ECT program focuses on human smuggling networks that may present particular national security or public safety risks, or present grave humanitarian concerns. ECT has dedicated investigative, intelligence and prosecutorial resources. ECT coordinates and receives assistance from other U.S. government agencies and foreign law enforcement authorities.

The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. National Central Bureau of INTERPOL, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Embassy in Quito and the Government of Ecuador provided invaluable support.

The case was prosecuted jointly by prosecutors from the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section of the Criminal Division, the Counterterrorism Section of the National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Facebook issued an apology Saturday for deleting a post by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer that criticized President Obama over his administration's new policy on prioritizing deportations of illegal immigrants.

Brewer's picture and a statement that accompanied it were removed Friday from Facebook, apparently because they "violated Facebook community standards."

"The post was removed in error," Andrew Noyes, Manager of Public Policy Communications at Facebook said in a statement. "We apologize for any inconvenience."

Sure it was removed in error, doesn't your policy state you review posts that are flagged to determine if they are against your TOS?

August 19, 2011

EL CAJON — For its many regulars, the Chaldean social club in El Cajon is a place to drink tea or coffee, play Dominoes and discuss the news of the day.

But federal and local authorities say the social club, tucked in a nondescript brick strip mall behind a metal security door, is also the headquarters of an Iraqi drug- and gun-trafficking organization with ties to a Mexican drug cartel and a Detroit crime syndicate.

Sixty people associated with the social club at 811 E. Main St. have been arrested over the past 10 days in the investigation, dubbed “Operation Shadowbox,” and investigators were continuing to hunt for others implicated in the scheme[...]

Mark Arabo, a local Chaldean and president of the Neighborhood Market Association, applauded police for making the city safer.

“This in no way, not even a half of one percent, is representational of the Chaldean community at large,” Arabo said. “Chaldeans are hardworking, great family people, Christians and give back to the community. There are so many great things Chaldeans do for the community, so this just comes as a shock.”

I wonder if they had any of the missing weapons from the DOJ/DEA's botched Operation Fast and Furious.

August 16, 2011

Let me get this straight,among other things, the gunrunner program caused the death of Agent Brian Terry and untold number of other victims.

Drug gangs/war lords were given unending supply of weapons, which weren't tracked as well as cash to purchase said weapons. The cash wasn't tracked either. Mexico was kept in the dark

• There was little to no information sharing from the Phoenix Field Division, ATF Headquarters and the Justice Department to their colleagues in Mexico City. Every time Mexico City officials asked about the mysterious investigation, their U.S. based ATF counterparts in Phoenix and Washington, D.C. continued to say they were "working on it" and "everything was under control."

Rep Issa and Grassley have continued to hit brick in their investigation of this program. Obama certainly would like this congressional investigation to disappear, so this makes sense. Promote those who pushed the program forward

The ATF has promoted three key supervisors of a controversial sting operation that allowed firearms to be illegally trafficked across the U.S. border into Mexico[...]

All three have been heavily criticized for pushing the program forward even as it became apparent that it was out of control. At least 2,000 guns were lost and many turned up at crime scenes in Mexico and two at the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Arizona.

The three supervisors have been given new management positions at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. They are William G. McMahon, who was the ATF’s deputy director of operations in the West, where the illegal trafficking program was focused, and William D. Newell and David Voth, both field supervisors who oversaw the program out of the agency’s Phoenix office.

Pat my back, I'll pat yours scenario going on here.

As Ed notes regarding the three "we made mistakes comment":

Perhaps listening to those agents who warned that this would result in disaster? Maybe not punishing those whistleblowers who brought your “mistakes” to light?

"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive"~Sir Walter Scott..

.....I mean, we know that there are Predator drones being flown for practice every day because we're seeing them, we're preparing these young people to fly missions in these war zones that we have. But some of those, they have all the equipment, they're obviously unarmed, they've got the downward-looking radar, they've got the ability to do night work and through clouds. Why not be flying those missions and using (that) real-time information to help our law-enforcement? Becuase [sp] if we will commit to that, I will suggest to you that we will be able to drive the drug cartels away from our border."

Headlines such as During practice, Predator drone such and such nabs high profile drug lord would be a heck of a lot better than " Border Agent Brian Terry killed by gun from botched Operation Fast and Furious gunrunner program".